


The Nekomancer

by PolzkaDotz



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Animancy, Depiction of an Animal in Pain, Happy Ending, M/M, Necromancy, Neil is a Maine Coon, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27612770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolzkaDotz/pseuds/PolzkaDotz
Summary: Andrew deposited the orange cat on top of Neil’s grave and looked at the engraving on the tombstone. It had the name of a stranger, the birthday of an unknown man and, down under, the body of someone he possibly knew—in a sense of the word. Now, Andrew could only admit he knew a fraction of what Neil really was—or rather, had been.A cat has nine lifes. For three he plays, for three he strays and for the last three, he stays.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 43
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PolzkaDotz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolzkaDotz/gifts).



>   
>  It was my birthday on the 17th! It is not the 17th where I live anymore, but I had a (frankly) shitty day, so I decided to just fuck it and i’ll be writing, editing and posting the chapters of this as I write them today :shrug:    
>    
>  This was one of my scheduled gifts for myself but mental health and bad vibes got in the day so! I’m trying my best right now. Thank you for giving this fic a chance, and I hope you enjoy it!    
> 

Andrew deposited the orange cat on top of Neil’s grave and looked at the engraving on the tombstone. It had the name of a stranger, the birthday of an unknown man and, down under, the body of someone he possibly knew—in a sense of the word. Now, Andrew could only admit he knew a fraction of what Neil really was—or rather, had been. 

The cat flopped on top of the grave and looked like Aaron’s cats usually looked after he worked on them. Alive, but not quite. There, but not really there. 

Andrew would fix that in a minute. 

Green Mount Cemetery had a lot of old important people buried in big, important monumental shit—people who screamed at Andrew’s senses, asking, pleading to be chosen—but they were nothing but ants crawling over his skin. Easy to ignore or swat away at the more insistent ones, especially since Andrew had his focus on bringing a certain liar back. Having a purpose was one of the first ways to not mess this up and Andrew had been focused on Neil on a while. More than what was normal. 

More than what had been good for his mental stability. Hence the morning visit to Baltimore after a pretty sleepless night. 

Andrew refused to let one of his promises go… well, not unfulfilled, but. Neil Josten had known something was coming. Andrew wanted to hold that motherfucker’s shoulder and shake him until some sense that must be lodged somewhere in that stupid head got free. 

Before he started though, there was something important he needed to do. 

_Nathaniel Wesninski_ was incredibly satisfying to cross off. The sound of the stone being scratched by his knife was grating and even the cat came alive enough to meow at him, clearly complaining, but Andrew just kept going at it. 

Writing _Neil Josten_ on top of it sent a pang of… _something_ inside of him. Andrew didn’t care to name it. It was lopsided, the J of Josten was particularly ugly, but it felt right. 

With that done, Andrew pulled the cat, purring almost immediately, close to himself. Andrew wasted a couple of seconds to pet the cat while it was still… a cat, just Aaron’s cat, and then closed his eyes, raising power. 

The cemetery came alive in the most morbid sense as he let himself unleash the cold spot that lived near his heart. It spread like mist, creating fluffy, concentrated dark clouds ready to rain down on just the spot that Andrew was concentrating, despite how parched the surrounding residents were. 

The cat meowed again, and it sounded interrogatory. Doubtful. 

Then Andrew let the dark cloud reach deep into the earth, and he said, “Neil Josten, arise.” 

The cat let out an agonizing, high-pitched sound—one single note, suspended in the air by pain—and trashed pitifully, but Andrew gripped it around the ribcage, fingers interlacing. He could feel the desperate flutter of the cat’s heartbeat, but he didn’t feel anything over it. It would be over soon. 

And it truly was. With a gust of wind that smelled like… freshness, like _life_ , the cat flopped in Andrew’s hands, weak and panting. Andrew made his grip softer, just giving support to the exhausted body in his hands. When the cat tried to stand on shaky legs, Andrew had to catch it before it fell on its face. Before he fell on his face. 

A tiny, confused meow rang into the night when the cat raised his head. Probably confused at how big Andrew was now. He tried to stand again, but failed. Andrew scooped him up and held it securely with a single hand. 

They walked out together as if nothing major had happened. Nobody even noticed that the cat seemed weird. Nobody ever noticed. 

* * *

When they all noticed Josten was missing after the riot, they tried not to panic. Andrew didn’t bother with that, going straight to _rage_ —especially after he noticed how shifty Kevin was. A little bit of a squeeze and that fucking snake spewed its venomous secrets. 

The next few hours for Andrew were a blur. Not because he couldn’t remember it, but because he remembered _too much._ Every single one of his senses had felt like working at a rave on Eden’s Twilight. He felt too much and remembered all of it. 

When the call came, it felt like the burst of a balloon that announced the end of a party. Flinchingly sudden. With Neil dead, there was no more worrying about finding where he was, who took him. Neil died and took all his secrets with him. Neil died and took all of their chances at winning. 

Neil died and Andrew, who already didn’t care much about winning, cared even less. 

Neil died, and the media _loved_ it, painting all of his lies as crimes and Neil’s messy past as proofs—until somebody intervened much, much later, but still. 

Right after Neil’s death though, after his body (and Neil’s shitty father and other criminals’ bodies) was released from the autopsy, all the Foxes attended his funeral. 

As soon as they got back, Andrew went to a dollar store and bought a ceramic orange cat, very tiny, stuck in a pose as if ready to pounce on its prey. It had felt like the most appropriate one. 

(For a second, he contemplated getting the “wild animals” plastic set, the one that had a fox, but that would be stupid and difficult to mask or get a plausible story). 

So. 

A cat. 

Who got slammed in front of Aaron, as he tried to drown Nicky’s sobbing with music from his shitty earbuds as he studied. 

Aaron looked at the figurine for a terribly long time before taking out the earbuds and saying, “No fucking way.” 

Andrew just stared at him. 

“What the _fuck_ is wrong with you? This is a stupid idea. Let him stay—” 

_Dead_ , Andrew’s mind completed for him. Aaron was angry, but not stupid enough to out himself as a freak-show. He liked to pretend he differed a lot from Andrew. As if they weren’t similar in more than just appearances. 

Nicky stopped crying as he noticed the acidity in Aaron’s voice—probably not because it was rare, though, but probably because he couldn’t understand the subject. 

“I don’t need you to do something about this,” Andrew said in a low voice. “But we both know this way is less… messy.” 

“What if they find out?” Aaron hissed. “What if they ask you about Seth, huh? What will you say then?” 

Andrew shrugged. Allison had paid for Seth’s cremation, so there was nothing left to tether Andrew’s powers. Even worse, Seth had dabbled too much into suicidal ideation when going at it with his depression. Those souls always left quickly—too quickly for him. 

Neil Josten wasn’t that kind of soul. It had been almost 5 days since his death, but Andrew knew his soul would still be there. Hanging on. Lingering behind as he tried to run from his destiny. 

“Guys?” Nicky asked, hesitantly. Aaron turned to look at him, but Andrew didn’t bother. He flicked the cat figurine on the table closer to Aaron, who flinched at the sound of the porcelain sliding. 

“Make your choice soon,” Andrew told Aaron in a low voice and left to go nap in his room. 

Late at night, ridiculously late for someone like Aaron, Andrew was handed an orange parody of a cat, sponsored by Aaron’s abilities. Andrew didn’t say anything as he immediately made for the car, ignoring even Aaron’s, “I guess I’ll tell Wymack you won’t be able to come to train in the morning.” 

Andrew didn’t give a fuck what Aaron thought he should do. He already had used his animancy for the only thing that mattered. 

* * *

The cat was… very talkative. 

Andrew let him roam free in the car while he drove. The cat—kitten, really, although he was absurdly large for a kitten—clumsy explored it, trying to get used to having a body again, a completely different one, at the same time he tried to get Andrew’s attention. He didn’t know exactly how to meow, but he tried until he got perfect at it. 

“I don’t speak cat,” Andrew told him, which only made the complaining louder and angrier. 

“You are dead,” Andrew said after the sound grated at his senses, threatening to make a tension migraine appear. Sound that, gratefully, abruptly cut off when Andrew’s words were clearly registered. “Currently, you’re not dead anymore.” 

“You are a cat,” Andrew continued, “because a new body can’t simply be _given_ to you. I could have taken your body from the ground, but I can’t resurrect you. Just keep your consciousness around to watch your body decay completely. 

“Your soul might not stick around even with my best efforts, and you must accept that right now. Death is a mysterious business even for those of us who are poor necromancers, you understand me?” Andrew made a pause and then said. “Meow once for yes, twice for no.” 

The cat meowed once. 

“We’ll establish a method of communication so I can check with you that everything is going to plan, okay? But right now, stop fucking making a ruckus so I can drive in peace.” 

The cat obeyed, curling up on the front seat, but staring steadily at Andrew. 

Andrew would never admit it, but the last five days without that attention heavily on him had felt empty. 

It was good to feel somewhat… whole, again. 

Hopefully, he would be able to make Neil whole again soon as well. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  I like how I said, "I am going to write the whole night!" then I laid in bed and ZzzZZzzzZZz  
>   
> to make it even worse, it was so hot that the only thing I wanted to do was _absolutely nothing_ but I gave myself a hug and said "Go work on the chapter, bitch!"  
>   
> Hope y'all enjoy this though!  
> 

The Foxes didn’t notice a _fucking thing_ about how weird the cat was. 

Andrew hadn't been expecting anything different, but Neil apparently had. As soon as Andrew stopped the car in front of the Fox Tower, Neil bolted up the stairs of the building, making some athletes yell in surprise then give Andrew unsubtle looks of irritation. 

When Andrew finally reached him, Neil was scratching at Matt’s door with vigor. Andrew sighed, already preparing himself to hear shit from Wymack about property damage, and then Matt was opening his door. 

“What the fuck?” Matt asked, as if he had never seen a cat before. Neil stopped for a second, head tilted all the way back as he looked at Matt with an amount of focus that no damned animal was capable of. “How did you get inside?” 

“With me,” Andrew answered at the same time that Neil meowed. 

“Is that why you missed training?” Matt raised an eyebrow. “To go adopt a cat?” 

Andrew didn’t reply. Neil meowed again. 

As he crouched to pet him, Matt gave an uncertain look towards Andrew. Neil tolerated the petting for a few seconds, and then he stretched himself up, resting both of his paws on Matt’s thighs, getting as close as he could to Matt’s face so he was able to yowl loudly right at it. 

“Doesn’t seem like a bad idea, honestly.” Matt gave a wan smile as he kept petting. Neil yowled louder, and the sound drove the other Foxes out of their rooms, curious to see what was happening. 

Andrew couldn’t imagine what Neil thought about how wrecked all the Foxes looked. Their sunken eyes, some reddened from crying, the way they seemed tilted at their axes. The way Matt’s petting had a frantic rhythm to it. 

“Andrew, you adopted a cat?” Renee approached Matt and kneeled down. Neil, unsurprisingly, stayed the fuck away from her. Andrew stared her down and didn’t answer. Renee didn’t smile, but she still seemed minimally amused by him. “Did you nam—” 

“Pipedream,” Andrew interrupted her as Nicky, Kevin and Aaron came out of their dorms. Neil looked back at Andrew and gave a long, complain-y meow. 

“Wait, the cat is _Andrew’s_?” Allison asked, judgement clear in her voice. Aaron huffed at the whole thing and went back inside. Kevin stayed by Andrew’s side and opened his mouth—probably to complain about an animal in the Fox Tower—but one glare from Andrew shut him up. Nicky, on the other hand, joined their circle around Neil, crouching near Matt and talking in a baby voice with Neil. 

Neil looked back quietly at Andrew while Renee gently admonished Allison, and went even quieter as the Foxes started to coo at him with as much passion as they could gather, which wasn’t all that much. Just by his eyes, Andrew knew that Neil had finally understood how difficult things would actually be. He had gone from being a gangster’s child, to a runaway, to nothing, to dead. And now, to a cat—unable to speak and unable and have his opinions heard. Unable to have all the people he had connected and clung to while alive. 

Andrew wondered if Neil realized that he could not make it obvious that he was _there_ —that he was a _person_ , because it truly wasn’t certain that his soul would be allowed to stay back. Sometimes, souls were claimed back; for no discernible reason, it just… happened. It made sense, since necromancers dealt with death and the dead, but in the olden times only used their powers to talk with the dead, not raise them. Everything had its limitations. Necromancers weren’t gods, after all. 

If Neil didn’t know that, then he certainly would learn about it soon. 

When Andrew grew tired of waiting, he went to his apartment and there was loud complaining from the Foxes as Neil followed him. 

* * *

Andrew had bought three bags of fridge magnet letters when he had bought the ceramic cat, which was technically a bit overkill. Especially since Neil had to take forever to find the letters he needed to form sentences and ended up just… adjusting, pretty much. Andrew would think of a way to make this more efficient later, but for right then… 

_Exy?_ , was the first thing Neil asked about. 

Andrew rolled his eyes, but told their situation. The PSU board couldn’t blame them for the kidnapping and murder of a teammate, but the Foxes were hanging by a thread as a team. They didn’t bring victories and, although they had been having a good season, without enough players and without sponsors… 

Riko had made a statement when the news about Neil’s death came out, and it was inflammatory enough to make the Ravens throw wild parties all over the country. However, Jean still talked to Renee, and behind the curtains the story was different. The Ravens were clearly unhappy by the Foxes’s situation. Even worse, Riko knew he was to blame for this. Jean had said he was… not contrite over it, but definitely angry. 

However, without funding for the team and without the number to play, the Foxes were doomed. They had to wait fora miracle, but right then, they were doomed. 

_How me?_ , Neil asked after grumbling while he processed Andrew’s answer. 

Andrew frowned. “How I brought you back?” He asked to confirm. 

Neil meowed once, for yes. 

“Aaron is an animancer. He can bring inanimate objects to a lifelike state.” Andrew was going to keep going, but he looked at Neil and saw that he had assumed an aggressive posture. Andrew almost rolled his eyes at him. “Knock it off. Without that, I wouldn’t be able to bring you back in a safe, subtle way. The undead walking aren’t seen kindly by the general public.” 

_Body how long?_

“It could take either months or years for you to be able to have enough magic in you to get a body. However, you could also end up stuck as a cat for forever.” Andrew shrugged. “And, of course, when I’m dead, you will die too.” 

Andrew looked at the way Neil’s tail swatted from one side to the other, but he didn’t comment on it. Neil seemed annoyed at the uncertainty of his future—or maybe frustrated about his current state as a cat. The way he saw it, Neil would soon realize that being a cat was at least better than being dead. 

* * *

The following days—months, really—were clearly trial and error for Neil. Of course, Neil had had to deal with the physical changes—after all, no kitten stayed a kitten for forever. It didn’t help that he was, apparently, a Maine Coon, so he grew a lot in a few months—and had to eat and shit a lot too. Their dorm was too small for a cat of that size, but nobody dared to tell Andrew to get rid of him. 

Also, of course, the irony of Neil being one of the largest cat breeds out there wasn’t lost on Andrew, but. It wasn’t like he had chosen it. He didn’t even know if Aaron could choose it; Andrew certainly wasn’t able to influence the dead in any way. 

Besides having to deal with his growth and how awkward they made him though, Neil had to learn how to let go of human reactions. Had to come to terms with the fact that, if he wanted to go to the Court with them in the car, he would have to let either Kevin or Nicky hold him in their laps (Aaron steadily refused, of course). Neil had to unlearn his indignation and pride because sometimes he needed help, and he needed to learn how to ask for him. 

Andrew would call it karma. 

The hardest thing for Neil to stop reacting to was, obviously, the fucking stick ball game. Either when he watched it on TV, or when he went to their training sessions and stayed by Wymack’s side, Neil would meow and paw his complaints. 

However, when the anonymous donation for their team came to the school, Neil didn’t react at all as the Foxes cheered. When the call for Kevin came late at night and a lot of “Yes, master, we’re grateful, sir” was filling the room, Neil was still quiet. 

“Neil’s uncle claimed Neil was his heir,” Kevin told Andrew after it hanging up, voice shaky. “The Moriyamas agreed to pay in kind.” 

The next day, the NCAA announced that the Foxes would receive two loaned players from another team—some teams complained, but they couldn’t deny that the Foxes had made the season interesting. Their prides probably didn’t like it, but that was the truth. 

The day after that, Tetsuji Moriyama announced that Riko had gone missing. They had found his car totaled near some woods, but no signs of him. It didn’t take long for the searches to change from “looking for Riko” to “looking for Riko’s body”. 

Andrew wasn’t surprised. If Neil was an heir and had been killed by a Moriyama, in a way, it made sense that Riko should pay the debt for the family, especially since he wasn’t all that… well. _Important._

It was clearly enough for Stuart Hatford, from what Jean had told Renee. 

And it was also enough to make Neil feel more… settled. A tension Andrew hadn’t even noticed in him just vanished. 

* * *

Every night, Neil sat down in Andrew’s lap on the rooftop of the Tower, and let Andrew infuse him with necromantic power. Neil was very good at sitting like a statue, clearly not enjoying the coldness of Andrew’s powers as he stoically stopped his body from shivering but also not complaining. 

Every night though, as soon as Andrew was done, Neil would start purring. 

“Don’t you have any shame,” Andrew commented dryly, and Neil just purred harder. Unable to stop himself, Andrew would let his hand rest on the scruff of Neil’s neck. His fur was long and soft and _alive_. It was nice. 

As he had predicted, they had grown tired of the fridge magnet communication pretty quickly. To prevent frustration, Andrew went out and bought around 30 recordable buttons and programmed words like “Yes”, “No” and, under duress, “Exy” on them. On top of the roof though, there were no buttons. They could have a rudimentary form of communication, usually only with Yes or No questions, but they mostly stayed quiet. 

Andrew used that time to remember. Neil’s shape was burned in his hand, both new and old, but on top of the roof, he wished for Neil’s warmth. Neil’s mouth. 

He wondered if Neil did the same, but quickly stopped that line of thought. It took Andrew absolutely nowhere to… _long_. It was a waste of time. 

* * *

The other Foxes could not believe Nicky when he told them that Andrew was training the cat to communicate through the buttons. Aaron was the only one unimpressed—and also the only one that Neil always tried to get in the way, especially to make Aaron trip on his body early in the mornings. Aaron would try to retaliate but, since Neil only messed with him in front of other people—people who didn’t know—Aaron couldn’t say or do anything. 

“Are you seriously not going to tell them?” Aaron spat out at Andrew once. “It’s… he’s their friend. It’s not. Right.” 

“Are you really trying to pretend you care about this? That’s cute,” Andrew told him and watched dispassionately as Aaron spluttered at him. “Besides, I refuse to lie about how my power works. Are you ready to be exposed, brother dearest?” 

Aaron had marched off and never touched on the subject again. 

Neil, unsurprisingly, seemed to enjoy humoring the Foxes interest in him a lot. They had also bought the recordable buttons, which they kept in Matt’s bedroom with a lot of other cat shit they had accumulated. Neil had a jungle in there, scratching posts and wet food—that he seemed to enjoy much more than dry kibble, although he enjoyed human food better, to the horror of the Foxes and the misfortune of Aaron, who always had his food stolen if he didn’t pay attention. 

The bottom line was that the Foxes obviously didn’t think Andrew was taking good enough care of “his pet”. 

Neil hadn’t notice it, like the dumbass that he was. He just clearly thought he had been helping his friends feel better with his presence, a comfort since he was, technically, what made them sad. They would pet him to infinity, sometimes picking Neil up with difficulty and just taking him places. They would squeal and think themselves the chosen ones when Neil jumped on their shoulder, even when that maneuver started to be dangerous enough to almost knock them over. Neil didn’t make a peep about it. 

However, when they dared to imply that Andrew didn’t care about him in front of Neil… That was when Neil made his opinion of that shit clear. 

Later, Neil had told him through the magnets (because they didn’t have buttons for that) that they had made plans about kidnapping Neil away from Andrew, for Neil’s safety, and just had to decide what plan they would employ. 

In the end, they had to come get Andrew to calm him down because Neil would not stop raising hell loudly and slamming the recordable button for No whenever one of them got near him. That happened a few other times until the Foxes learned not to talk about stealing Neil _in front of_ Neil. 

It was all ridiculous on so many levels that Andrew didn’t even know how to explain it. Staring Neil down did nothing, though. Neil would swish his tail in a wide, annoyed arc, and turn his back on Andrew. 

It did serve to convince the Foxes that Neil was some kind of genius cat. They started to talk more in front of him and to him, asking more complex questions. Neil would pick and choose how much sense his answers would make, and he constantly delighted the Foxes. It was a dangerous thing to encourage, but Andrew wouldn’t tell Neil to stop, especially since he looked more and more exactly like… well. The cat who got the bird. 

Andrew could only prepare himself to the possibility of it all turning into a tragedy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> There we go! This is very much different from how I write my stuff lmao Where is the useless rambling??? that is my signature??? But it's certainly fun!  
>    
>  The last part is probably going to take a while to come around because I have classes in like... 40 minutes. I'll try to write in class, but who knows how productive I'll be :shrug:  
> 
> 
>   
> PS: I forgot to say it on the previous chapter, but my inspiration for Nekomancer came VAGUELY from a t-shirt a friend of mine has. I know it's sold at an online store called "nerduniverse" here in Brazil, so you probably can find the illustration if you search for "Nekomancer nerduniverse". As I've stated though, it was only vaguely inspired by the shirt, though the art is pretty cute!   
> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some saddos and worries but! Happy ending! Of course!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  i think y'all should know that I started to write this yesterday's afternoon and I didn't get off my chair until I finished it. It's almost 6 a.m. right now but I sure do hope you appreciate my sacrificed sleep! Especially since I only had this weekend to finish writing this before school sucked my sould for like... two-three weeks 🙃  
> 

They don’t win the championship, of course. 

The Trojans loaned two of their players—both taking care of their college responsibilities he did with online classes—who mostly kept out of the Foxes way, but it didn't matter. They only had to play _one_ game with them. The Foxes didn’t win against Bearcats, so they got to go home after Kevin and Dan did most of the pleasantries of thanking them and their efforts. 

At least the Foxes weren’t disbanded, since sponsorship money kept coming in. Riko was still missing, but the media talked less and less about him these days. Since The Ravens were disbanded, in reality—for “lack of funding” after the razing allegations came to light. The Ravens’ losses were clearly the Foxes’ gains, but they tried not to think too hard about it. Thinking might lead them to stumble back into crime land and they had apparently just gotten out of it, although Kevin still looked a little afraid too often and still drank a little too heavy to get rid of the edge of reality. 

Well. At least he was still alive. 

The girls graduated and Andrew attended only to gift a knife to Renee—made of resin in a pastel rainbow and still functional as a knife that actually cut things. 

Also, because Neil threatened to raise an absolute hell if he wasn’t there, of course. 

Andrew didn’t fight him. Neil was already losing too much by not being human. Andrew wouldn’t have bothered, but there were few things that Neil still could do. It made sense that he would want to be there on his friend’s milestones of adult life, even though they didn’t know he was there. 

They spent Summer break in Columbia, as always. Neil felt wary of exploring the city as a cat, even though he was much bigger than all street cats _and_ some street dogs. Neil refused to admit he was not doing okay, but Andrew only had to take him with Kevin when he trained and suddenly Neil was fine again. 

Could have something to do with the fact that Kevin would let Neil catch balls for him. Neil couldn’t really bat at them without giving it away, but just the fact that he would _right the cones’ positions_ that Kevin had knocked over while training his drills and then bring the balls back was… a lot. Kevin looked suspicious, and even opened his mouth once or twice to ask, but in the end he would just close it to keep himself quiet. 

As he should, for the benefit of his general health. Despite what Andrew sometimes said to Aaron, he didn’t really want his Necromancy to be public—especially to the orphan boy. Who knew what Kevin would ask of him that he would have to negotiate. It would probably cost Andrew’s patience more than anything, so the longer Kevin was quiet, the better. 

The new Foxes were shit. None of them could score on Andrew, and Neil could only pace on the bleachers of the stadium when they first trained together. If he could speak, Neil would surely rip into them, but he had to simply grumble and meow by Wymack’s side. 

At least, most of the new Foxes knew how to fight somewhat decently. That would make things a bit more interesting for Andrew, since nothing on court could hold his attention anymore. 

Andrew tried to block the memories he sometimes pulled of Neil on a fucking court, mostly because they tasted like nostalgia and honestly? Fuck that shit. Andrew didn’t care about this game, but he knew he would play that junkie again, some day. It was the only thing he had. The dumb, almost impossible to get rid of _hope_ that everything would turn out okay. 

* * *

They had decided to visit Neil’s grave all together when the first year anniversary of his death rolled around. 

One year since his death meant almost a full year since Andrew had brought Neil back. It was… definitely not a good sign that a year had passed and Neil still wasn’t able to find the switch inside of him, the thing that made him turn. He should have found it a while ago. He could be a late bloomer, but with how fast Neil had burned through his first life, Andrew just… assumed he would be quick at this too. 

He wouldn’t let himself worry about what this could mean. 

Neil was even bigger now, too big to be travelling around out of a carrier, but. The only time Andrew had shown a carrier to him, Neil had just stared at Andrew until he put the thing away. At least Neil wasn’t an actual cat, wriggling all over the car. He would sometimes adjust his position, but he mostly was quiet on Kevin’s lap—the front seat had a bit more room for him to sprawl over Kevin’s legs, if he wanted to stretch a bit, but not a lot. It was much less adjusting than an actual animal would do though, but Andrew didn’t care about it. Seven hours was a long time to spend scrunched up in a car. 

(They could have taken a flight, but Andrew was the one who simply said No.) 

(Besides, of course. Neil and his refusal of the carrier which would make him unable to go on a plane.) 

Aaron tried to argue only once. Andrew just gave him a look, pointed at Neil, and said, “Do you want to force him into a carrier?” 

They left early. It was a Monday, but they were all “sick” and unable to attend their training—even Wymack. Abby had confirmed there was a bug going around the team and it was better to give them a couple of days off to rest. The new Foxes weren’t stupid to complain about a free day—or, about the ones who were actually stupid but also cared about the game enough what the date meant, they were quickly dissuaded from pointing fingers towards the obvious reasons for the wide-spread sickness. Through violence, of course. 

The girls would meet them in the cemetery. Andrew replied to Renee’s messages, sometimes, but it would be good to see her in person. Neil had been much more… excited about it, of course, but he did his best to react like a cat to the whole thing. Like he had no idea where they were going and what they would do. 

He did a good job. A scarily good job. Andrew imagined that it probably helped Neil to tone it down when he thought about how he would see people he cared about grieving over him. Maybe even crying. Knowing Neil, he probably thought he could make things better by being there. 

A martyr, really. Death usually changed some things, but others were impossible to change. Stupidity was one of them, apparently. 

They had to wait for the girls to arrive, since they had flown the day before and stayed at a hotel together. They totally didn’t look suspicious—six men and two women just standing in front of the cemetery’s gate, barely talking to each other, although Abby was at least trying. Bee had given up on making Andrew talk and only occasionally made comments while she watched Andrew trying not to adjust his posture. Neil was currently thrown over his left shoulder, claws absentmindedly playing with the back of Andrew’s shirt. He really should have stopped doing this a long time ago but, for today, Andrew just accepted it. _Just_ for today. 

It only took ten minutes for the girls to appear, Matt running to hug Dan and spin her in the air. Andrew didn’t bother placing Neil on the ground—he simply turned around so Neil was facing them and stopped holding him. Neil clambered off his back with a graceful movement that clearly impressed the girls. 

Or maybe his size did. Nicky and Matt constantly sent photos of him to them, but still. Photos weren’t the same as actual life. 

Neil let them give him a lot of attention and, just like a cat, he swayed his tail in a particular manner when he wanted them to stop. Dan tried to pick him up to carry him inside the cemetery, but Neil dodged her hands and walked on his own. 

The Foxes shared a look and followed him. Andrew went last. 

They hadn’t really brought anything (except for the girls, who each brought a bouquet) or thought about what they were going to do, clearly. Neil’s grave looked a bit neglected, which wasn’t surprising. Renee and Abby plucked some weeds with their hands, but it wasn’t enough. They talked quietly about bringing something to clean it next time, and Andrew wanted to say there wouldn’t be a next time, but that would be dumb. He didn’t know know that. 

They just stood there, quiet. When Matt started to cry, Neil went to him and meowed until Matt kneeled to pet Neil, who tried to dry his tears with his furred face. It made Matt and some of the others laugh a little, but they quickly went back to looking lost as they stared at Neil’s grave. 

Wymack was the first to open his mouth, and Andrew tuned him out immediately. He didn’t want to know, didn’t want to remember a single word of this whole shitty situation. 

Neil turned to look at Andrew and he also looked lost. 

Andrew just looked back, unable to say anything. There was nothing to say or do. They could only wait and endure it. 

* * *

Months bled into one another. 

Neil still didn’t turn. 

* * *

While on the roof, Andrew couldn’t help but wonder as Neil shivered in his lap. He was definitely _wondering_ , not _worrying_ , because there was nothing to worry about. Andrew refused to find something to worry about. 

Even though it had been more than a year and a half since Andrew had brought Neil back. 

Even though he should have been something by now. 

Aaron had started to give Andrew distinctive looks, but Andrew didn’t bother to tell him to stop—or beat the message into him. 

There was nothing to worry about, so there was nothing to acknowledge. 

Not even how Andrew sometimes looked at Neil and just saw… a cat. Nothing human going on behind those blue eyes. 

* * *

Even though Kevin and Matt did their best with extra training, the new Foxes only got so much better. 

Neil was clearly frustrated at them, and none of them were allowed to even touch him. That didn’t surprise Andrew, but it certainly puzzled Matt. Kevin, however, just looked intrigued. Almost curious. 

He still wasn’t asking anything, and probably wouldn’t, so Andrew just ignored him. 

Neil should really not be worrying about the Foxes, though. He should have been worrying about his own health. As a kitten, it was easier for him to entertain himself in the dorms or beside Wymack in the court—Wymack, who was another one that also had a lot of machinations going on behind his piercing eyes, but no questions for Andrew. 

The thing was that Neil was big now, and he had problems just finding places to be comfortable on top of, let alone to fully exercise. After a quick research, they found out that, unfortunately for Neil, Maine Coons took five years to be _fully_ grown. He would keep growing bigger and, if he didn’t start to exercise soon, the amount of food he consumed would show. 

That was how Nicky, Matt, and Kevin decided to take Neil out to run. They had bought a dog’s leash for Neil because he was big enough for it, but it was basically unnecessary. Neil could understand their commands perfectly well and, when they ended up finding an animal that was curious enough about Neil’s… everything, Neil could either outrun them, out-climb them or just… fight better. Although, after some incidents, Nicky learned that if he let go of Neil and let him run off, he would just go somewhere outside of the reach of whatever had tried to attack him and… wait. Until it was safe to walk back out. 

Nicky and Matt were always impressed by how tolerant Neil was of other animals, but Kevin seemed to know better than that. Neil didn’t even bother to pretend anymore that he didn’t understand everything that Kevin said. If Andrew was someone curious, he would wonder about what else Neil was giving away during their runs, but he wasn’t. He was way past the curiosity point. If it kept Neil around, he just mentally shrugged and pushed the “Fuck it” button that lived inside his soul. 

At least Neil was finally getting enough exercise. 

It made Andrew wonder, though. About his ability, of course, because he didn’t have all that many opportunities to study it and he wouldn’t start offering service just to get answers but… Maybe Neil wasn’t… ready yet to change because his vessel’s age hadn’t caught up with his. 

It was a possibility. 

Five years of wait, though… That was a long time for a human soul to hang around an animal’s body. 

* * *

The new Foxes got minimally better. Good enough that they don’t immediately lose and are eliminated from championship, but not good enough that they can rival the Trojans—the only respectable team left, in Kevin’s opinion. 

At least the money didn’t stop coming in, so Andrew doesn’t have to figure out what a bored out of his mind Neil does when there’s no Exy around. 

It was enraging how Andrew had stopped feeling indifferent towards the game (and many, many other irritating things) solely because of the fact that Neil only _felt like Neil_ when he was near a court. His body was following the weather cues, so he had his winter coat on and looked absolutely fluffy. Like a proper snow-dwelling cat. When they were on the roof together at night, Andrew just couldn’t help but get his fingers and mind lost in Neil's fur during the power transference. Each day went on a bit longer than the previous one. Maybe that one would finally do be long enough for Neil to find _something_. 

Maybe that one would finally be _enough_. 

Andrew was tired of seeing Neil slowly turn into an animal in front of him. 

If Exy was the only thing that would keep Neil present, Andrew was willing to play the fucking thing 24/7 around Neil. He wasn’t desperate, not yet, but… 

It was January of 2009. Almost two years. 

Knowing you were a Necromancer and seeing your ability fail you when you needed it the most was… 

Yeah. 

* * *

When the second year of Neil’s death rolled around, the Foxes—the old ones, the ones that mattered to Neil, graduated and not-graduated—organized themselves to go once again to Neil’s grave. 

It was a chilly day for a March afternoon, winter still not fully ready to give way to spring. Andrew and the others bundled up in his car, Matt clearly uncomfortable because of the lack of legroom in the back seat, even though he was sitting right behind Andrew. That happened when you had a Maine Coon on your lap, but Matt didn’t complain. 

Andrew could have pulled his seat forward, but that would go against being a little shit, so he didn’t. Matt also didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of at least asking, although Andrew wasn’t hurt about it. Neil meowed with his head between the seats, however. Andrew pretended he didn’t exist. 

The trip was silent until Kevin insisted on trying to start Exy talk, basically forcing Andrew’s hand on turning on the radio and putting it on the trashiest country station he could find, which wasn’t hard. Kevin only tried to turn off the radio twice before getting worried about his hand, because Andrew was slapping it hard enough that he risked hitting them on the dashboard. 

The girls were already at Green Mount when Andrew parked, all three of them waiting outside of the gate, Allison with an enormous cup of coffee in her hand and an even bigger purse. Matt almost ran out of the car with Neil in his arms, and he raised him in the air as high as he could, yelling, “Look how big Pipedream got!!!” 

“Big boy!!!” Dan and Allison screamed, while Renee only smiled. 

Neil meowed at them and was finally put on the ground, doing figure 8s around their legs. Dan was the first one to kneel to pet him, and Neil let her. Andrew got close to them with Nicky, Kevin and Aaron. Andrew couldn’t look away from Neil’s face as he took in the girls, and how they had changed in the year since they last saw them. Andrew showed photos of them to him from the group chat, but Neil’s cat eyes weren’t made for screens. Neil seemed to be trying to commit their faces to his brain. 

Allison’s purse made a distinctive sound when she bended her knees to greet Neil. Kevin must have moved because she looked at him while Neil approached her and, without stopping the hand that was giving Neil chin scritches, she scowled at Kevin. “You are so predictable, honey. Don’t worry though, I bought an entire bottle of vodka just for you.” 

Kevin only nodded as an answer, and Allison rolled her eyes at him. 

Neil’s greeting to Renee was much shorter than to the other girls, but still. Much better than whatever attention Neil as a human had ever reserved to her. 

There was a beat as they looked at each other. Wymack, Abby, and Bee couldn’t come this year—it was a training day and they couldn’t catch a disease two years in a row. All the players there were “not needed” today, but they were the only ones who would come today. They seemed like they were on their way back to looking a little lost, just like the last time they had all come. They stood there, looking at the gate and then at each other. Gathering courage. 

Neil stood there with them for a few moments and then walked purposefully into the cemetery. Andrew followed him immediately, but the other Foxes clearly needed a moment. 

As if that would make grief hurt less. 

It didn’t take long for all of them to join Andrew and Neil on the correct grave. This time, the girls had brought more stuff than just flowers or cleaning supplies for the grave, opening up three blankets and laying them on the ground. Enough room for everybody to sit and pass the alcohol around. 

Andrew’s carving of Neil’s name looked older. Not fainter, but definitely a little worn out from the weather. Neil plopped himself on Andrew’s lap as Andrew wondered if he should get a knife out and renew it. It was automatic to put a hand on Neil now and transfer necromancy, even though it had started to feel hopeless. 

Plastic cups were passed around and, without talking about it, all of them chugged theirs. Andrew had opted for straight (room temperature) vodka, but some of the others had chasers, so they took a little longer to finish their cups. Refills were done, and then they talked quietly between themselves. Andrew just kept petting Neil and transferring Necromancy. Nicky was between him and Aaron, but he could feel Aaron’s eyes on him. Pity had a particular weight to it. 

They got louder as the bottles became lighter. Whenever some stranger got too close to them, they would go silent and be somber, hiding their cups, soon going straight back to their loud talking. The mood differed completely from their last time here, but Andrew was certain it wouldn’t take them long to get sappy, taking into consideration the amount of alcohol being consumed. 

“Do you think we could hire a necromancer?” Dan asked loudly out of nowhere, sounding thoroughly sloshed as she carefully enunciated each word and Andrew’s stream of power just… stopped. He turned to look at her slowly. Neil, on the other hand, had looked at her as soon as she opened her mouth. “Not to try to… bring him back. Most necromancers don’t do that anymore, but… just to talk? We could do that, couldn’t we? Or has the timeframe for that passed?” 

“I think their motto is ‘The older, the better’, no?” Allison mused and, although she had drank just as much, she looked and sounded much more cobbled together. Allison was clearly going to say more, but Neil stood on top of Andrew’s legs painfully, making himself as big as possible with his fur all ruffled up. He already hid Andrew's torso behind his body normally but, all poised for a fight like that, he was even bigger. 

Neil meowed warningly. Twice. “That’s a no,” Andrew said in the middle of the silence. He knew they were looking at Neil, even though he couldn’t see them. 

“What do you mean?” Dan slurred. After a few seconds she got up, and Andrew could suddenly see her shocked, wide eyes. “You mean ‘No’ for hiring a Necromancer?” 

Neil meowed once at her. A confirmation, but Dan didn’t know that. She looked at Andrew, wanting an explanation, but Andrew in turn looked up to the night sky. He didn’t need to say anything. Everything was pretty self-explanatory. 

Dan slowly sat down and Allison piped in, hesitantly, “I found a website that said there’s no time limit for a conversation with spirits. The older, the better for _long_ r, comprehensive conversations, but a good enough Necromancer could speak to anybody.” 

Neil growled and stomped on Andrew’s lap. “Stop it,” Andrew told him. 

Neil turned his head to look at him and growled again. Then, in a sudden movement, Neil turned around, so he was on his front paws only, and _kicked Andrew’s chest_ with his back legs. It caught Andrew out of guard, and he had to use a hand behind himself to not fall completely. Neil’s back claws almost got caught on Andrew’s sweater, but he quickly got them loose and stood up. 

“Whoa,” Matt said, all of them watching as Andrew rose from the ground and took two steps back. Neil kept his eyes on him, tail swishing through the cold air. “What’s wrong with him?” 

Neil gave a high-pitched snarl and jumped in the air again. Andrew was able to dodge him this time, and Neil had to stop himself from hitting his face on the nearest tombstone. “Cut it out, Ne—” Andrew started to say, and Neil’s growling thankfully drowned his sentence. 

Andrew froze. All of them did, actually. Neil’s growling had sounded too close to a clear, “No!” 

“Calm _down_ ,” Andrew tried to say, but Neil wasn’t having it. 

“No more Necromancers!” Neil yelled. Someone gasped, but Andrew didn’t bother looking away from Neil to see who had done it. 

“I’m not calling any Necromancers,” Andrew said in a monotone, shrugging. 

“ _Tell them_!” Neil growled and jumped again. Andrew was going to dodge, but then he saw it and his heart almost wanted to run out of his chest. That was _Neil_. Neil’s body slowly appearing, a flicker in and out, then all of a sudden completely real in the middle of the air. Andrew wouldn’t be able to catch Neil in his arms. It wasn’t the right angle, but he could soften his fall. 

They became an entanglement of limbs on the ground. Neil apparently didn’t notice that he was fucking back, and kept yammering things like, “No fucking Necromancers, they won’t find anything down there and they will think I don’t want to talk to them, Andrew, _tell them_ that you brought me back!” 

He sounded desperate. Panicked. Probably the only reason why he hadn’t noticed his transformation yet, even though all the others had, and were standing near them, just… looking. Andrew snapped his fingers at Kevin, who had been by his right side. It took Kevin a few seconds to understand that Andrew was telling him to take off his jacket. 

“Calm down, Neil,” Andrew said after a few more seconds of rambles. It didn’t seem like Neil would stop anytime soon, so Andrew just interrupted him. Andrew placed Kevin’s jacket on Neil carefully, so it covered as much of Neil’s body as possible—which wasn’t hard, taking into consideration how long the jacket was. Or how short Neil was. “Nobody will hire any Necromancers after this.” 

“What the fuck do you mean?!” Neil muttered angrily, fisting his hand on Andrew’s shirt then looking down at it, confused. Neil’s eyes widened, and Matt’s choked out “ _Neil_ ” made him turn around too fast, his neck giving a series of cracks. Andrew adjusted his hold on the jacket a little and moved to cross his legs under Neil’s weight. 

The Foxes had an impressive range of emotions going around. From teary-eyed happiness, to shocked elatedness, to disgust—but that one was only Aaron. They all watched as Neil, naked as the day he was born, took all of their faces in, looked down at himself, and went, “Oh” very quietly. “It worked?” 

Andrew only hummed as an answer. The Foxes seemed glued to the ground, but it didn’t take them long to begin talking, one over the other, more drunken slurring than anything else. Andrew couldn’t see Neil’s face, but he could almost feel him radiating a grin—or maybe it was just Neil’s shivering enough to make his teeth chatter loudly that clued Andrew on the fact that Neil had his teeth exposed. It wasn’t like Andrew knew a lot about his happiness at all. Or cared about it, obviously. 

Andrew threw his keys at Renee, who got up and went to take the change of clothes from Andrew’s car trunk. It was good to finally get them out of there, after storing them for two fucking years, only occasionally getting them out to be washed and put away again. Neil got dressed, clambering off of Andrew’s lap with an unnecessary sorrowful look towards Andrew. Andrew had gotten used to Neil’s weight on him after all these months, so his regret was unwanted. 

(Andrew told himself, as he tried to stop the stupid feeling of mourning that he probably wouldn’t have the cat’s weight on his lap all that often anymore. It had felt… calming. Grounding.) 

(But it was definitely better to have Neil back, as a human.) 

The Foxes couldn’t stop looking at Neil as they asked him question after question about being a cat. About being dead. They tentatively asked about being brought back and Neil looked at Andrew, who only shrugged. He didn’t care what Neil wanted to tell them. As Neil talked, some of them kept trying to give Andrew grateful looks. 

Andrew drank more vodka. As if he _wanted_ their gratitude. As if he had done it for gratitude. 

(As if he could have done anything else. As if he could stop himself when he knew he could bring him back.) 

When there was a lull in the questions, Nicky got up and yelled, “Well! This deserves a celebratory toast!” 

The Foxes loudly agreed, and every single one of them filled their cups again—even Aaron, looking tartly sour. They seemed to have forgotten that some would be driven back by Andrew—or maybe they had already decided they would be around here for a lot longer, long enough to get sober. 

Neil received a cup of his own with vodka. He looked down at it, then around them. When Andrew raised an eyebrow at him, Neil just clutched his cup tighter. 

Nicky raised his glass high. The others followed. “To Neil’s return from the dead!” 

“To Andrew’s powers,” Neil corrected loudly, before anyone could say anything. 

“To the Nekomancer!” Nicky conceded and the Foxes, on a rare bout of camaraderie towards Andrew, yelled “To the Nekomancer!” in unison. 

Andrew sipped from his cup this time, pacing himself. Not because he was too drunk, but because he had to watch as Neil tipped his head back prettily and threw the shot down his throat, the bobbing of his Adam’s apple completely hypnotizing Andrew. It was too good to look away or get distracted by alcohol. 

It was a good thing he hadn’t looked away, because as soon as Neil lowered his cup, he shuddered hard and turned back into a cat with a sudden meow, empty cup hanging in the air. Andrew shot forward to catch it before it could hit a very disoriented Neil on the head. Neil, buried at the sea of clothing, meowed at him miserably. He tried to get up on his own, but his cat body was obviously processing the dose of alcohol much faster than his larger human body would, because he just got caught on the clothes and went down. 

Andrew fished him out of the clothes and put him down on his lap. Neil flopped down hard and the Foxes came around to check on him. Neil licked Matt’s hand because it was in front of his face and then promptly went to sleep. Andrew could see the Foxes wanting to panic, but one stern look from Andrew calmed them down. 

Neil wouldn’t die, again. He wouldn’t die for a long time, if Andrew had anything to do with it. 

Andrew buried his hand in Neil’s fur and let the familiar rumble of Neil’s sleep purring calm him down. Andrew wouldn’t worry about Neil for some time now, and the lack of that weight felt almost _scarily_ good. Andrew would not let himself catastrophize, like the Foxes clearly wanted to do as they kept shooting looks to Neil’s sprawled form. 

Andrew could feel Aaron’s eyes on him again, but he didn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t care to learn what Aaron was thinking of this, or of his participation in it. 

Everything felt whole again. Complete. 

Andrew looked at Neil and rolled his eyes. Everything finally looked _fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> and that's a pretty pretty bow tied around this pretty pretty end!  
>   
> I'm not going to lie, I thought this would get _much_ longer, and I'm glad I let myself just... experiment with the writing for this. I did listen to the first two parts and I found some mistakes. Let's see how long it takes me to go back and edit them lmao  
>   
> thank you SO MUCH if you read this, kudoed it, subscribed to it, showed your love to it in any way. I had almost nothing to feel good about during my birthday (because the universe postponed my good news towards the weekend, the fucker) but i'm INCREDIBLY glad that some people read this and were interested in reading _more_. Anyway, i thank y'all so much for reading this! happy 25th birthday to me!  
>  PS: the timeline I pulled out for this was from [this post](https://coldsaturn.tumblr.com/post/159941546641/tkm-timline) although I was pretty delirious from lack of sleep when I looked at it and lovely Gerifalte actually pointed out to me that I might have gotten the girl's graduation year wrong. Oops. lmao. 

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  if you want to come find me at other places, I’m [polzkadotz](http://polzkadotz.tumblr.com) on tumblr and [polzka_dotz](http://twitter.com/polzka_dotz) on twitter.  
>   
> Thank you so much for reading!  
>   
> (PS: I do not want criticism in any shape or form for this fic! All my other fics are wild west, no laws there, but this is MY gift FOR MYSELF for having a shitty birthday. Be nice.)   
> 


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